Dell has just unveiled a new 27-inch IPS gaming monitor with a special and rather useful trick up its sleeve that should appeal to enthusiasts and professional gamers. With the press of a button, the Alienware AW2725QF can switch between two combinations of resolution and refresh rate: 4K (3840 x 2160) at 180 Hz, and FHD (1920 x 1080) at 360 Hz. This allows gamers to prioritise either detail and sharpness, or fluidity of motion, depending on the game they’re currently playing.

It also means that customers don’t have to choose between resolution and refresh rate while buying a monitor. With the same monitor, they can switch to 360 Hz to get the most out of fast-paced first-person shooters, competitive multiplayers, sports and racing games, or opt for the rich detail offered by 4K for more visually immersive RPGs and open-world environments.

The AW2725QF also supports NVIDIA G-Sync and VESA Adaptive Sync to reduce unwanted frame tearing and stuttering. Further helping reduce motion blur and other artefacts is the extremely low response time of 0.5 ms grey-to-grey. The IPS panel offers 10-bit colour depth, a wide 178° viewing angle on both axes and a brightness of 400 nits (600 nits max for HDR), although contrast ratio, at 1000:1, naturally, is inferior to an OLED panel.

The panel also features an anti-glare hard coating. Dell's ComfortView Plus technology reduces blue light, and therefore eye strain, while maintaining colour accuracy thanks to the DCI-P3 95% colour gamut rating. This is very good not just for gaming but for professional video and photo editing workflows as well, making the AW2725QF very versatile indeed.

The monitor comes with a tilting, swivelling and ±90° rotating stand with up to 110 mm height adjustment, and a retractable hanger for headphones. The Alienware AW2725QF has officially launched in China, and will be available globally starting September 12, for a price of $599.

It will pair nicely with Alienware's AW610M wired/wireless mouse andAW720H dual-mode wireless headset with spatial audio, available on Amazon.